A Prince of A Tale
by anneikenskywalker
Summary: The birth of the Queen's third child in 1960, causes a change in dynamics between Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip. From Philip's point of view, it seems to be change for the better.


_(Thanks for reading all. The song is "My Eyes" by The Lumineers. Enjoy!)_

 **February 19, 1960 – London—2:50pm**

"Your Royal Highness…" a young club valet said a low, conspiratorial whisper as he suddenly appeared at the side of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and an immediate silence fell between Philip and his good friend, Mike, at the small table where they were sharing a luncheon.

Philip's eyes narrowed, giving a sideways glance to the lad as he chewed the bite of sandwich still in his mouth, then slowly took the message the valet offered with one hand, while his opposite hand set his coffee cup down.

When the young man turned heel and disappeared, Philip opened the message.

 _It's time..._ was scrawled in Michael Adeane, the Queen's private Secretary's handwriting.

Elizabeth had looked pale and exhausted when she had awoken that cold morning, having admitted to feeling labor pains on and off all throughout the night. Philip, like any excited father, immediately called for the doctor, and though Elizabeth consented that it was time to do so, she had assured him she would be fine and that he should go out that morning as she knew was his usual routine.

Philip had planned to cancel on plans with Mike at the club, just as he had with all of his other formal engagements in the two weeks leading up to the birth of their third child.

He protested adamantly, until he suddenly, slowly, he started to realize that being home that last week with him must have started to drive Elizabeth a little crazy.

Also, she knew it could be hours before their new addition made their appearance and Elizabeth didn't seem to want him hanging over her at that particular moment.

So, Philip fulfilled her request.

Philip had somehow kept himself occupied and his nervous energy in check for the thirty hours it took for Charles to enter the world in 1948 and then, the thirteen it took Anne in 1950…though, still to this day, he didn't know how he had done it, especially, when every strong and protective instinct in Philip's body told him to be with his wife during such a time.

But, it was quite 'a vanguard' for men who were not physicians to attend childbirth in Britain.

And, especially in the royal family, it simply wasn't done.

So, along with his in-laws, Philip had been forced to wait impatiently outside the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace for his children to arrive.

Philip now smirked as he thought of earlier that morning, when he had kissed Elizabeth goodbye, then made her promise to send him a message so that he could be back at the palace when it was close to time.

She had nodded and promised, then smiled when Philip kissed her stomach and said, "Don't give your Mum too hard of a time while I'm gone, eh?"

Philip now smiled broadly as he looked up to Mike, then leaned forward an gulped down the rest of his coffee before he hastily stood and, shoving the message into Mike's front coat pocket, clasped his friend's shoulder excitedly as he cried, "Right! It's a go, old boy! _I'm out!_ "

Mike's face lit up with happiness as he turned in his chair and watched Philip walk hurriedly through the maze of tables toward the lunchroom entrance.

When Philip by-passed the valet, who was holding out his coat for him to put on, without a second thought and raced out into the late winter cold with just his dress shirt and trousers on and jumped into his roadster, Mike laughed and signaled the waiter for the bill.

# # # # # # # # # #

Philip was sure he wasn't obeying the speed or traffic laws as he snaked through the busy streets of London back toward the Mall and Buckingham Palace….

But, his mind was somewhere else….

He was thinking of Elizabeth.

Since she had become Queen after the death of her father, much earlier than anyone, including them, had expected, the endless circus of it all quickly became a wedge in the dynamics between them as a couple.

But, since his trip to Australia to open the Olympic Games a few years before, the change in Prime Ministers and the ten years that had passed and made Elizabeth grow more comfortable in her role as Queen, things had seemed to turn for the better.

Still….

Some of the moments he was proud _and_ not so proud of in previous years ran like a movie through his mind as he drove….

 _ **Oh, the devil's inside…**_

Philip smiling broadly as he slipped the engagement ring on Elizabeth's finger as she agreed to marry him…

 _ **You opened the door,  
You gave him a ride…**_

Facing her, shy, nervous and gorgeous in her wedding dress, in the Abbey on their wedding day and trying to make her smile and put her at ease during their vows.

 _ **Too young to know…**_

A smiling Queen mother handing Philip his newborn son, Charles, as the new father looked down at him with awe…

Holding his infant daughter, Anne, at her christening in the music room of the palace with the King his side….

 _ **Too old to admit…**_

Making Elizabeth laugh into her napkin at dinner when he showed the servers that they could just use their hands…

Kissing Elizabeth after dodging the charging elephant at Treetop Hotel in Africa…

 _ **That you couldn't see how it ends….**_

Seeing the King's blackened lung in the operating room…

The King looking at him with sad eyes in the boat at Wolferton Splash... _"She is the Job..."_ he had told Philip

 _ **What did you do to my eyes?**_

Meeting Elizabeth's eyes across the lawn at the resort in Africa, knowing that he had to tell her that her father had died….

Elizabeth giving him a sad, helpless look when the royal flight landed at Heathrow and she had to walk down the plane steps ahead of him as Queen for the first time in their married life….

 _ **What did you sing to that lonely child?**_

Walking away from her after she told him they would be dropping the surname of Mountbatten….

 _ **Promised it all but you lied….**_

Philip stroking Charles' hair as the family climbed the main staircase of Buckingham Palace after giving up their home at Clarence House….

 _ **You better slow down baby, soon….**_

Philip meeting Elizabeth's eyes through her office window as he played on the grounds with Charles and giving her a knowing smirk…

Philip reaching over, without a word, and gently taking hold of Elizabeth's hand at the opera….

Philip kissing her on the forehead before her first meeting with Winston Churchill…

 _ **It's all or nothing to you…**_

Arguing with Elizabeth in the abbey before the coronation….

Watching his wife being crowned and being in awe of the ancient ceremony he had rebelled so hard against….

Then, kneeling before, and pledging his undying allegiance to, Elizabeth before kissing her cheek and bowing as he backed away…

 _ **The glow of Hollywood signs…**_

Philip and Elizabeth waving goodbye from the top of the airplane steps as they embarked again on a royal tour…

Camera bulbs flashing in their eyes as they rode in their car to a social engagement, their regalia and tiaras sparkling…

 _ **They sold you a bridge…**_

Philip watching from the crowd with soft eyes as Elizabeth unveils the statue of her father, George VI, in Hyde Park….

 _ **They fed you the lines, they fed you to lions….**_

Elizabeth arguing with him in Australia and pulling the cigarette from his mouth that he was threatening to smoke, then the fight escalating and being caught on camera by reporters….

 _ **You always confused your servants for friends….**_

Philip walking out in formal dress to meet Mike for an evening outing, leaving Elizabeth alone in the dining room...

Philip watching jealously as Elizabeth celebrates her horse's win at the track with Lord Porchester…

 _ **But, you couldn't see how it ends…**_

Elizabeth and Philip arguing in the Land Rover at the stables….

Philip whispering that he was sorry across the table to her at Winston's retirement dinner…

 _ **It's all or nothing to you….**_

Philip, dressed in a tux, cheekily facing down Elizabeth in their bedroom….

Philip sitting down next to her on the royal yacht, meeting her eyes with love and concern…

 _ **What did you do to my eyes?**_

Elizabeth walking past Philip, sitting on the couch, and out of the room in silent anger as the television reported on the engagement of Princess Margaret…

 _ **What did you say to my only child?  
**_

Philip being chased around the sitting room by their two children and four dogs as Elizabeth watched….

 _ **Promised your love but you lied….  
**_

Elizabeth meeting Philip's sad eyes before he left for his Olympic tour meeting, _"Don't dress betrayal up as a favor"_ ….

Philip standing alone in the hallway afterward, wanting desperately to go back in and kiss his wife goodbye after their altercation.…

 _ **You better slow down baby soon…**_

Elizabeth and the children greeting him upon his return from the five month tour….

Elizabeth cuddling into his chest as they slept together in his bed that night…

Philip kneeling as his wife formally crowned him a Prince of Great Britain…

 _ **It's all or nothing to you…**_

# # # # # # # # #

 **Buckingham Palace – 3:20 pm**

Suddenly, Philip found himself in the north hall of the palace.

He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, but he had.

The Queen Mother and Michael Adeane were seated on a sofa in the hallway outside the Belgian suite, but the nurse that was standing with them, immediately came over to Philip when she saw him, much to his surprise, and beckoned him to come with her.

"Your Royal Highness…I'm afraid it's been a _very_ hard labor….Her Majesty has been asking for you, Sir…" she smiled encouragingly, motioning toward the golden doors to the room that had been turned into a temporary maternity ward for the Queen.

Philip realized that he must have looked pale and dumbfounded because the nurse steadily and gently took his arm.

"It's _alright_ …." she reassured him as she pushed open the doors and escorted him inside, leaving the Queen Mother and the Private Secretary in the hall.

At first unsure, Philip immediately sprung into action when he entered the room and heard his wife's heavy, distressed breathing in the canopy bed in the center of the room, at the bottom of which was a screen where the royal physician stood, ready to deliver their baby.

" _I can't_ …" Elizabeth panted, her eyes lidded from the anesthetic she had been given, as she lay back on the pillows.

"Ma'am…I need you to gather your strength now. Just a few more pushes and—"

"No…" Elizabeth whispered, "I can't…not…not without my husband—he—he should be here. I can't do this _without_ him…not this time….I _can't_ —"

"Elizabeth," Philip suddenly interjected, putting his arm around her shoulders and slowly lifting her up, "I'm here.…."

Elizabeth smile weakly up at him, then closed her eyes as he leaned forward and kissed her damp forehead.

"Let's meet our baby…" Philip smirked as he pulled away and looked into her eyes, "What do you say?"

Elizabeth nodded and grimaced as she felt another contraction coming on, now enfolding herself in her husband's arms and taking hold of his hand.

 _ **What did you do to my eyes?**_

"You can do it…come on…" Philip encouraged in her ear

"Alright, Ma'am…. _push_ …" the doctor said, concentrating on what was under the sheet draped over Elizabeth's legs.

Elizabeth took in a deep breath and pushed, her face turning red from the effort.

 _ **What did you sing to that lonely child?**_

"That's it!" the doctor cried in praise, "Hold it….breathe, Ma'am….well done."

Elizabeth let out a gasp and Philip held her close to his chest, supporting her weight.

Suddenly, another contraction came and Elizabeth moaned…

 _ **Promised it all but you lied….**_

"Big push now, Ma'am! Last one! _Big_ push!" the doctor commanded and with Philip's help, Elizabeth sat forward and pushed, a strangled gasp escaping her lips at the same time their baby came into the world and began to cry.

 _ **You better slow down baby…**_

"Your Majesty has a son…" the doctor smiled as he held up the baby for his parents to see.

 _ **Soon….**_

# # # # # # # #

"Oh…." Prince Philip whispered, smiling as he reached into the cot next to Elizabeth's bed and lifted the clothed and swaddled baby into his arms, looking down at the infant fondly, "Look at you…."

Elizabeth smirked with soft eyes as she watched Philip with the baby as her husband held the small infant to his chest and rocked him soothingly.

After the birth, the doctor and the nurse had let Elizabeth hold the baby before asking Philip to leave the room.

He didn't want to go, but Elizabeth's encouraging, but exhausted smile forced his hand.

Philip went to his rooms and changed, thrilled by the experience of actually witnessing the birth of one of his children.

That in itself was a dynamic shift in their marriage...the fact that Elizabeth had wanted him there with her and she had commanded that it be so.

As his young bride, she had wanted him with her all the time—shy, sweet, funny and dutiful Elizabeth.

But, during her first years as Queen, the waters had been choppy for her and their relationship became a tug of war as Elizabeth tried to assume the power that Philip was so used to having over their lives.

Truth be told, he often felt shut out during the first years of her reign as she tried to gain her footing.

But, now, more and more, she was wanting him by her side in her role as Queen, sharing her power and her work with him—wanting—no _, insisting_ —that he be included.

"What shall we name him?" Philip asked as he stroked the baby's small arm that lay outside the blankets with his index finger

"What were you thinking?" Elizabeth asked

"Well, we should give him a proper name…a _Windsor_ name…that _is_ the tradition, of course…." Philip replied, still looking at the infant in wonder as its small closed eyelids fluttered, "I was thinking perhaps, Albert Edward…for your father."

Elizabeth's face softened, touched by the notion.

But, she wanted to make a bolder statement.

"Oh, I don't know about Albert…" the Queen suddenly said, smirking to herself as she smoothed the bed covers over her legs, "That name seems a bit out of date now that we've reached a new decade, don't you think?…"

"What were your thoughts, then?" Philip asked with a chuckle, his eyes still focused on his new son

"I was thinking perhaps… Andrew…" Elizabeth announced, her eyes looking up, "For _your_ father and incorporating Christian in his name as well…for your grandfather. I'd say he's a Mountbatten as well as a Windsor...wouldn't you agree?"

There was a long silence between them before a small smile spread across Philip's face and he leaned forward with the baby in his arms and kissed her.

"Thank you..." he whispered against her lips, resting his forehead against hers

When they parted, Philip straightened and looked down to their newborn son in his arms and said softly, "Andrew Albert Christian Edward…" then he smirked as he leaned forward and kissed the baby's head, "Welcome to the world."


End file.
